Friday, March 27, 2020

'Telephones Bring Cheer and Encouragement'


A reminder from the 1918 pandemic, when telephones were the ultimate social medium (in fact they still are). Thanks, Roberto Q. and Brian S.

5 comments:

Steve Gilzow said...

Remarkable how durable that Bell System logo was — still seen everywhere until 1982. Love the phrase, “Cheer and encouragement.”

In regard to a phone call being the “ultimate social medium,” I rank a letter in the mail equally worthy. It can be returned to, contemplated, savored. They are both precious and important.

I join you in thanking Roberto Q. And Brian S. This is a great image and a reminder of how unchanging the essentials are, despite a century of breathtaking change.

Angeline said...

Thank you for this reminder.

My mom, who is 89, uses the home telephone exclusively for contact with family and friends. She has no internet, no email account, etc.

Phone calls are it.

skip said...

Thanks so much for this. I'm 53 years old, and still prefer the telephone to communicate with my friends and family. In fact, my 97 year old grandmother is another one who exclusively uses the telephone - old enough to have lived through the Depression, and still remember the aftermath of the Spanish flu.

Bob said...

The illustration's line art is incredibly detailed. Is there a name for this style? And I'm curious about how long might a skilled artist need to produce this picture in the days B.C. (Before Computers). Or in Dinotopia, for that matter -- where the advertisement might recommend sunstone signals or postal birds.

Lisa Ash said...

Being in quarantine these days is so much more tolerable than it would have been back then though there probably more household people to keep company with. That being said, quarantine has forced me to do a good hard studio clean out which has done wonders for my creativity vibe. But I do have a question of what am I to do with the piles of unwanted paintings that I want to discard. Are they ok to burn? I’m not keen on just trashing them Most of them are from figure painting nights with multiple paint overs. Some are damaged. Mr. Gurney what do you do with your discards? Lisa in Vermont